The Committee of Ministers today adopted the Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion 2020-2025 to combat anti-Gypsyism and discrimination and to support equality.
The plan will also foster democratic participation, promote public trust and accountability and support access to inclusive quality education and training.
Many of the 10-12 million Roma and Travellers living in Europe suffer from extreme poverty and exclusion. The existence of widespread anti-Gypsyism reinforces and aggravates their economic and social deprivation. These inequalities persist despite ongoing efforts at national, European, and international level to tackle anti-Roma and anti-Traveller prejudice, discrimination and hate crime.
The new plan reinforces progress made under the Council of Europe’s Thematic Action Plan on the Inclusion of Roma and Travellers (2016-2019), which tackled anti-Roma and anti-Traveller prejudice, discrimination and crimes (“anti-Gypsyism”) with innovative models for local-level solutions and inclusive policies.
“It upsets me to see that Roma and Travellers remain victims of various forms of discrimination, including school segregation, hate speech and hate-motivated violence in many member States,” said Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić. “I am however encouraged by the focus of this new plan, as it aims to ensure effective participation of Roma and Travellers themselves in decision-making processes and should improve implementation of national and local-level Roma inclusion strategies in education and local policies,” she added.
The Action Plan will be launched officially at the first meeting of the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI) in Strasbourg on 6-8 April.
